The Vaccine

That the first vaccine is now in operation in Britain makes this a truly great day. I am certainly no immunologist, but given just how rapidly this was developed, it really makes me wonder how much an intensive international focus on public health could develop vaccines for other illnesses pretty quickly. Given the new methods used in the COVID vaccines, maybe that is possible. I assume there are a lot of conversations about it in the immunology world.

But then there’s such a lack of interest in really fighting public health from major governments, especially any time a Republican wins office in the United States. Trump’s henchmen eliminated the White House Pandemic Office is just the most incomprehensible example of this. When you think, for instance, of the enormous gains made in global public health that the Carter Center has led since Jimmy Carter left office, it’s amazing and it’s a huge reason why he is probably the greatest ex-president in history (really only John Quincy Adams has a claim to it otherwise). Now, imagine if the stated goal of the American government was to target international diseases and put huge resources toward finding cures or preventive measures as a core piece of its foreign policy. I know, I’d like a pony as well.

Anyway, this is really good news today and I am very happy. It’s too bad everyone has to decide that nothing matters and that they are just going to get COVID instead of waiting just a couple more months.